(5 gallons, extract with specialty grains and fruit)

Ingredients:

• 0.5 lb. cara-pils (dextrin malt)
• 0.5 lb. light crystal malt, about 20° Lovibond
• 5 lbs. extra light dry malt extract
• 1 lb. rice syrup (or 0.75 lb. rice syrup solids)
• 1 oz. Liberty hop pellets, for 45 min.
• 1 oz. Cascade pellets, for 15 min.
• 7 g. dry ale yeast
• 7 g. dry lager yeast
• 4 lbs. fresh, whole cranberries
• 7/8 cup dextrose for priming

Step by Step:

In 2 gals. of cold water, steep cara-pils and light crystal malt. Raise temperature slowly to 170° F, then remove grains. Add to kettle dry malt extract and rice syrup (or rice syrup solids). Bring to a boil. Add Liberty hops and boil 30 minutes. Add Cascade hops and boil 15 minutes. Remove from heat, chill, and add to primary fermenter with enough pre-boiled cold water to make up 5.25 gals.

At 75° F, pitch a slurry of neutral ale yeast and lager yeast. (Alternatively, pitch a 7-gram packet of dry ale yeast and a 7-gram packet of dry lager yeast. If you have two three-gallon fermenters, you may ferment this as two separate batches, one as an ale, one as a lager, recombining them in the secondary.) Ferment on the cooler side of ale temperatures (60° to 65° F).

After initial fermentation has slowed down, rack into a secondary onto fresh whole cranberries (freeze them for a week, microwave them for three minutes to thaw and, if necessary, bruise them to break skins before placing them in the fermenter). Some new fermentation will probably begin, so you may find you need to use a blow-off setup for a day or so. Condition at fermentation temperature for about two weeks, then rack into a third vessel to allow better clearing for a week or so. Bottle, priming with dextrose. Bottle condition three weeks and serve chilled.

Notes and Alternatives:

All-grain brewers: This is a standard light, golden ale recipe, somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 or 8 lbs. 6-row brewers' malt with the addition as above of 0.5 lb. cara-pils and 0.5 lb. light crystal. Keep it light.

Cranberries: If you really get stuck and can't find cranberries, do not use a bottled cranberry juice cocktail or similar juice as a substitute. Most of them are blends of cranberry, apple, and white grape juice and will not produce the desired tartness. Pure (preferably organic) cranberry juice may be used in a pinch, but it is almost as hard to find sometimes as the berries themselves. Some of the wine-making trade suppliers sell a cranberry flavoring essence. Ask your homebrew supply store if it carries an essence or can find one. I have used one of them and was pleased with the results, although the fresh fruit will always be a better choice, to my mind.

Yeast: As noted above, there are really three possibilities. I prefer to ferment this as two separate small batches, and generally I use Wyeast 1056 in one and Wyeast 2035 in the other. I have also done this with Edme (dry) ale yeast and Yeast Labs European Lager (dry) yeast with good results. If you cannot do it as two batches, combine the yeasts in one fermenter, or use one or the other. Especially if you are going to add a strong-flavored fruit, the yeast profile is less important than it would be for the beer on its own.

Fining: If you decide that the fruit treatment described above is not sanitary enough for you and you decide to pasteurize the fruit, be careful not to boil it because cranberries contain pectin and will turn your beer hazy given the opportunity. But if this happens, you can certainly use whatever finings you would normally use in the secondary.

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